Old News Items

Pammal K Sambandham (in short, PKS) is a comedy *ing Kamal,Simran,Abbas,Sneha directed by Mouli, that is releasing for Pongal. Deva has scored the music. (Quiz: What's the only Kamal movie (before PKS) with Deva as MD? Click here for answer.) Post comments here.

Top Songs of 2001 (Dec 28, 2001)

Have you voted yet in our poll on Top 20 songs of 2001? If not, go ahead
and Vote Now! - The voting will close
in a few days. The top voted songs will be featured in a special radio
programme in THR Raga, Malaysia, early next month. We'll host the recording of this programme for your listening pleasure. :-)

Subbudu's take on TFM during 2001 (Dec 27, 2001)

For a change during this busy December Music Season, Subbudu is reviewing TFM of this year. See the current issue of Kumudam (31 Dec 2001). Click here and look for the artcile 'Andha Naalum Vandhidaadho' in Puthagam 1.
Post comments here.

How many are aware of the role played by IPRS? IPRS manages the copyrights of
musicians and distributes due royalty for their work being 'exploited'. It
also acts as a window for the users of music to obtain a legal license and negotiate the rate of royalty. IPRS is bad news for all those who have been
playing music for commercial purposes without paying royalty-even auditoriums,
halls and stadiums included. In fact, in Chennai, last month when Raj TV
organised a tribute for Sivaji Ganesan, IPRS has apparently collected from
the channel damages of over 1 lakh. Read more..Post comments here.

Alli Arjuna - AR Rahman's New Release (Dec 21, 2001)

All Arjuna (*ing Manoj, Richa Pallod. Dir: Charan) audio is out.
Except one song, all songs are rehash of Rahman's hindi songs from
Pukar, 1947 Earth and One Two ka Four. The song list:

Ilayaraja's family to score for Parthiban's new production (Dec 21, 2001)

Ilayaraja, Karthik Raja, Yuvan Shankar Raja and Bhavatharini are teaming
together for an yet-to-be-named film produced by Parthiban. (Not to be
confused with 'Elelo', by AR Rahman, which is postponed temporarily.)
Sudha Ragunathan is singing her first song under Ilayaraja for this film.
(Quiz: Name the song Sudha Ragunathan has sung for Deva. Click here for answer)
The song is set in Simmendra Madhyamam ('aanandha raagam','kaatrodu kuzhalin
naaadhame','nee pournami' are some of Raja's earlier songs in this raga),
in which, incidentally, her guru MLV has also sung a film song - 'ellaam inbamayam'. Carnatic violinists Lalgudi Krishnan, Vijayalakshmi, Embar Kannan, V.V. Ravi are playing for this song. One more song of this film will be a jugalbandi
between Sudha Ragunathan and a hindustani vocalist (Ajoy Charavarty, probably).
Post comments here.

Interview with (Sankar)-Ganesh (Dec 16, 2001)

Ganesh of the famous duo Sankar-Ganesh talks about how they entered tamil
films, their association with MSV,Kannadhasan,MGR and of course Devar films,
their hit songs ('unnai naan paarthathu','ponnadhi maalai pozhudhu','paruthi
edukkayila','megame megame','naan kattil mele','oh nenje','samsaaram athu
minsaaram',etc.) and on the current trend in TFM. He also talks about
his partner late Sankar Raman, his current projects, his acting, etc.
Post comments here (Link to the Ambalam.Com interview is also here).

Bharat Kalachar Awards (Dec 15, 2001)

Mr.T.M. Soundararajan and Dr.P.B. Sreenivas, were conferred the title of `Gnana Kala Bharathi,' for their contribution to light classical music in films. The musician, Mr. Lalgudi Jayaraman, gave away the awards. More

Vani Jayaram's Songs (Dec 14, 2001)

Travel down the memory lane and recall some of her everlasting melodies.
Join the fans and discuss about Vaani Jeyaram's songs. Go here.

Music Buzz on 'King' (Dec 14, 2001)

King (*ing Vikram, Sneha) is probably the next movie for the going-high hero
Vikram, after Kaasi. Music is being scored by the tvserial-title-songs famous
Dhina. Dhina who made his movie debut with 'Annai' has so far had a
disastrous time in movies. Hopefully this movie will be a break. Dhina is
scoring about 9 songs for this movie - half of which will be released as
a non-movie album. This is something unique that TFM hasn't seen till date.
Vairamuthu is writing the lyrics. Apparently his son Vai. Kabilan will pen
one of the songs.
Post comments here.

The girl, Vidya, is doing her Standard 9 in Padma Sheshadri Balabhavan Senior Secondary school, where ARR did his schooling too. She has sung ib Sun TV's Saptha Swarangal, Raj TV's Raagam Sangeetham , Humma Humma and Isai Mazhalaigal.
While ARR was composing for Dil Se he had scouted for some humming voices from this school. Vidya was one of the girls who auditoned. She was selected as ARR liked her voice. She also did some humming in Dil Se's tamil version 'Uyire'.
Then she also fondly remembers singing with ARR live on Chennai's Marina Beach for the Independence Day celebrations in 1998. They sang
Vande Mataram together. She also accompanied ARR in his Dubai concert and sang there too. Pukar, 12ka4 and Lagaan are some other films in
which she did humming.
In Sangamam, before the song Sowkiyama starts the 'jal jal' kind of jadhi has also been sung by Vidya. She has also sung the 'thillalangadi' portion in DumDumDum for Karthikraja.
She has also recorded a song with Hariharan in Udhaya and 2 songs in Kannathil Muthamittal - one with Tippu and another with Jayachandran.
Post comments here.
Source: Dinmani.Com (Thanks to S. Karthik for the translation)

Balram - the PB Sreenivas of this millenium (Dec 2, 2001)

"Nee thaan en desiya geetham" - the male voice of this song from
Paarthaale Paravasam, sent many oldtimers into a 'paravasam'. For, the
voice was exactly like the melliflous PB Sreenivas of olden days.
Those who thought PBS got back his voice were surprised to see Balram
as the name of the singer. Balram, a keralite, has learnt carnatic formally,
won several music competitions and sung in a few jingles. He has also cut
an album 'Khwaabon Mein'.
Post comments here.

New MD Imaan (Dec 1, 2001)

Iman is in the news after he was chosen the MD for GV films' big banner
movie 'Thamizhan' in which ex-Miss World Priyanka chopra is making debut,
hero is Vijay. This is actually the second movie for Imaan after "Kaathale
Swaasam" (*ing karthik,meena. dir: prabhu nepal) - the audio of this
movie, incidentally, got released yesterday. His movie break was expected
following his great success with the title songs he scored for Prabhu Nepaul's tv serials (e.g. Krishnadhaasi - 'sikaram paarthaai'). This young lad was
apparently working with Adhityan during his early days - he thanks Adhityan for
his early learnings. If you can't wait to see his talent, click here for a song sample he has tuned for Thamizhan.
Post comments here.

Kaasi (*ing vikram,kavya madhavan,kaveri. MD: Ilayaraja. Dir: Vinayan) music
is out. It's unique by the fact that there are 6 songs and all of them have
been sung by Hariharan only!

En Mana Vaanil - Hariharan - Mu.Metha

Punniyam thedi - Hariharan - PazhaniBharathi

Rokkam Irukkira - Hariharan, Sujatha - Muthulingam

Maanutholu - Hariharan - Pulamaipithan

Aathorathile - Hariharan - Pulamaipithan

Naan Kaanum - Hariharan - Mu. Metha

Initial impressions posted on the forum:
"The lyrics are of fairly good quality, and HH does a fair job."
" Kaasi disappoints! The lyrics are some of the most meaningful that you would come across in recent Tamil movies. But as the music itself, IR has does not have anything new to offer-this is disappointing especially since the movie had such a great scope for good music; I feel that the Malayalam version was better!"Post comments here.

Singing Roses :) (Nov 23, 2001)

Three roses, the indianised version of 'Charlies' Angels', *ing Jyothika,Laila,Rambha,Arjun, as you know is MD-ed by Ranjit Barot. The latest news is the 3 roses will be singing together in a song! All the three have been using voice dubbing for their movies so far, so now if they are going to sing with their own voices... kadavule kadavule :-)

"Kannaale Miyya miyya" Srivardhini (Nov 16, 2001)

Another upcoming singer 'Srivardhini' has charmed everyone with the
hugely popular 'kannaale miyya miyya' from 'Alli thandha vaanam'.
She was introduced by Vidyasagar in 'Poopparikka varugirom' (the song
is 'ettil azhagu'). She is also popular among the chennai makkal
through the popular title song of tv serial 'neela vaanam'. The song
goes like 'thaalaattum kaaveri' (also by Vidyasagar). Let's extend
a warm welcome and wish her more hits.

Check out the detailed review by Shashi in the forum. In-depth
technical analysis including ragas, rhythm patterns,ambience and other aspects.
Post comments here.

"Hey, nee romba azhagaa irukke" (Nov 11, 2001)

This is a movie to be directed by Vasanth *ing Shaam, Sneha. The music
will be scored by 5 MD's Ramesh Vinayagam, Srinivas (the famous singer),
Murugan (brother of Anuradha sriram. Also sang 'nee illai endraal'), Jaishankar,
Arvind. Quiz: Name another tamil movie
scored by 5 MD's and the MD names. Click for answer.

Parthale Paravasam music released (Nov 4, 2001)

The music of Parthale paravasam is out. This is the 100th film of K.Balachandar and has music by A.R.R. Are the songs a letdown after their last combination, duet?
Post your comments here.

Azhagi music released (Nov 4, 2001)

The music release function of Azhagi took place yesterday. The film stars Parthiban and Nandita Das, with music score by Ilayaraja. More details here.

"My initial impression is that it is a very mature attempt for someone so young and raw as YSR. It's very IRish in its orchestration, creates a sombre and dark mood for the film. I think this must also be the album with the best collective quality of lyrics in TFM in a long time, with Thamarai's lines outstanding."
"I feel this is a new point in YSR's career, as he tries to breakaway from his penchant towards fast, peppy numbers to much more mature stuff"
"after hearing the samples i liked only the "Kalli" song believe me this might be the instant hit "
"What a song by SPB and the other song i our maestro IR...haven't got words to describe my feelings after have listen the songs"

Apparently a pet project, MSV is releasing a ghazal album 'Sangeetham Sandhosham". Lyrics: Kaamakotiyaan. Singers: SPB, Srinivas, Chitra, Kalpana, Anantha Narayanan. The release function is on Oct 30 with a live performance of the songs. Update: Read an article in Kumudam here.

More on Nandhaa Audio (Oct 22, 2001)

The song 'maayane' (Aandaal thiruppaavai) has been soulfoully
rendered (in Sindhu bairavi) by youngsters-sisters Rajalakshmi & Madhumitha.
Does it remind 'maargazhi thingal allavaa', well.. they sung the chorus
in this song too.
There was a SPB-SJanaki duet recorded but not included in the audio release. Fans, don't be upset, keep a look out, it might be included later (insider news). Also, for some unavoidable reasons, the songs by Vani Jeyaram, Harini, Sandhya also could not make it to the final version.

Nandhaa - Audio release (Oct 21, 2001)

The much awaited "NANDHAA" film songs have been being released by Kamal Hasan
and received by Bharathiraja in a function held at Hotel Connemara, Chennai.
The song list:

Maanikka Vaasagar's Thiruvaasagam is going to be orchestrated by Ilayaraja
with Hungary's Budapest Symphony Orchestra. In a novel attempt, it's been planned to sound the English translation in the background simultaneously while the Tamil verses are sung in the foreground. This is being produced by Ilayaraja's Cultural Trust. Read more.
Post comments here.

Light Music Scene @Madras (Oct 10, 2001)

A Hindu article on the light music scene at Madras. Includes brief interviews
with Lakshman-Shruti, AV Ramanan's Musiciano, Abaswaram Ramji's Isai Mazhalai, etc. Read. Also read MSV's comments on the
current day troupes.

The movie RED (*ing ajith, priya gill. MD: Deva. Dir: Ramsathya) boasts
several firsts. Lata Mangeshkar is singing first under Deva, Lata & Asha Bhosle are singing first in the same tamil film (Quiz: Can you recall a Asha
Bhosle song under Deva? Click here for answer), Silambasan is singing under Deva.
Apparently Ajith really requested Silambarasan and thereafter he agreed to
sing. The song is a duet with 'Anjumani' Mathangi, for which Vairamuthu
has covered bests of the world like 'Italy Kattil', 'England Meththai', etc.
in his lyrics.

Nandhaa (Oct 2, 2001)

Nandhaa (*ing Surya,Laila,rajkiran. MD: Yuvan SR. Dir: Bala) is a movie
with a lot of expectation, as it's the 2nd movie for Bala after the
critically acclaimed 'Sethu'. Bala raised eyebrows when Yuvan Shankar
Raja was signed as MD instead of Ilayaraja (who was the MD for Sethu).
However, everything seems to have gone as per Ilayaraja's advice, as Raja
himself has sung the title song for Nandhaa. The other songs have been
sung by SPB-Harini,S Janaki, Anuradha Sriram and Vani Jeyaram who is
back in TFM after a long time. Yuvan has also composed a moving theme
for the movie in Pantuvarali / Puriya Dhanasree, listen
to it. Thanks to official site: Nandhaa.Com
Post comments here.

Udhaya - Music Buzz (24 Sep, 2001)

The song 'Thiruvallikkeni raani' (Sukhwinder Singh, Karthik) for the movie Udhaya (*ing Vijay,Simran.
MD: AR Rahman. Dir: Azhagam Perumal) has been picturised on Vijay and Sophiya Haque (of 'september maadham' fame). The lyrics has been penned by Gangai Amaran - the first time for AR Rahman. This movie is slated for pongal release.

Suresh Peters, who entered TFM as a singer with 'chikkubukku rayile',
is making a comeback as MD. He did score for a tamil movie several years
ago. (Quiz: Which movie is it? Click here for answer.) His new movie is 'Thenkaasi pattanam' (*ing sarathkumar,napoleon. Dir: Manojkumar). Earlier he was busy with tamil pop albums, e.g. Minnal, apart from singing intermittently. He has also been busy doing Malayalam
films. Check out here for more.

Harris Jeyaraj's 'Rehna Hai Tere Dil Main' (19 Sep, 2001)

The music of 'minnale' hindi version is out. 'Vaseegara' has become 'Zara zara' (BJ sings it again), 'Oh mama' has been sung by Sonu Nigam (with some improvisation in the middle), 'Venmathiye' hindi version goes to Kay Kay who has done a pretty good job. Roop kumar rathod doesn't have to worry too much, he gets a fresh song. There's one more new duet by Sonu Nigam, Kavita Subramanium.
Listen and post comments here (check old responses if you can't find the audio link).

"a good album i like the song sung by SM and another song by karthik"
"Its not bad, again a good album from Yuvan"
"yes,MTV is a very pleasant album with 6 songs sung by shankar,karthik,ysr,sadhna,hariharan,bhavadarini,there is a mass number "sadugudugudu"very good song in the scales of a rajini foottapper"
Detailed Reviews: 1, 2Post your reviews here.

AR Rahman interview (16 Sep, 2001)

ARR talks about his work with Michael Jackson, Lagaan success, criticism on
his songs sounding stereotypical, his singing, etc.
More.

News Bits (15 Sep, 2001)

Vairamuthu released his 'Kallikkaattu Ithikaasam', a graamiya story that
came out as a serial in Ananda Vikatan. A must-read for fans of folk literature.
During the release function, Bharathiraja has put forward his thoughts about
making a movie with Ilayaraja as the MD. If that comes about, it will be
Bharathiraja-Ilayaraja-Vairamuthu joining hands again!

Quiz: Who is the bride in Mira Nair's Venice festival award-winning
'Monsoon Wedding'? (Hint: why would this question be asked on TFM Page?) Click here for answer.

Interview with Jikki (14 Sep, 2001)

Excerpts: Krishnaveni became jikki for films. Originally from Andhra. Has sung over 10000 songs (including hindi, sinhalese songs). First song is 'arul tharum deva maathaave' (gyana sowndhari) under SV Venkatraman. Sang with AM Raja during college days that led to love and marriage. She has also sung under deva: 'othayadi paathayile' (aathaa un kovilile). On current day music: "Has improved technically. Quantity also has improved, but the quality has gone down".
Source: Chennai.Com
Post comments here.

Interview with (Viswanathan) Ramamurthy (14 Sep, 2001)

Excerpts:

Born in Trichy and learnt violin from his father

Been playing violin for C.R.Subbaraman (initial salary Rs. 1.50 /month)

Met MSV in 1950 who was playing Harmonium for CRS. When CRS died in 1952, they took over from him. Shankar-jaikishan duo were the inspiration their joining
hands. Apparently Ramamurthy first said to MSV, "You compose tunes, I'll play
violin as always", to which MSV responded "Anne, appadi sollaatheenga. Naama
rendu perum sernthe compose pannuvom. Saagum varai naam sernthe iruppom".

They were initially 'Ramamurthy-Viswanathan' (since MSV is younger) but
swapped the names for pronunciation convenience.

They separated in 1965 (due to ego clash) and went alone. Ramaurthy did few
movies like 'marakka mudiyumaa', 'naam' but didn't make it big.

Praises AR Rahman a lot for bringing a new dimension to film music.

In 1985, MSV called to say: "Anne, ungalai paarkka vendum. Neengalum
naanum pazhayabadi serndhu isai amaikka vendum, varattumaa?" and after
which they did 'engirundho vandhaan' together. It was a flop.

"Anju mani anju mani" is a recent superhit from 'Chocolate'.
Many still think that this sensuous number is sung by vasundara das. (
There are also a few who claim it's Mumtaz's own voice, it's so apt!) It's
actually sung by a new voice, Mathangi. A tamilian brought up in north india,
Mathangi, apparently took lot of effort to sing this tamil number with
help from Deva. If you thought she can sing only such light numbers,
you should have caught her on "Sapthaswarangal" last sunday. She took up
"meevalla guna" - the Kaapi kriti - and rendered with pure classical
touch! Welcome to TFM...

Nandhini entered TFM in 'Uyirodu uyiraaga' with the peppy song 'I love you, you love me too'. Now she is grabbing attention with
the 'africa kaattuppuli' song in Aalavandhan. She visited TFM Page recently
and posted this. Post comments for her here.

More News Bits (6 Sep, 2001)

Mani ratnam's "Kudai" (*ing Madhavan,Simran. MD: AR Rahman) is
slated for deepavali release. Apparently Rahman has already done the
5 songs of the film. One song 'kannathil muthamittaal' (sadhana sargam)
has been shot on Simran & Baby keerthana near Rameshwaram.

Ranjit Barot is doing one more film now: "Three Roses" (*ing
rambha,Jyothika,Laila. rambha's home production.) T. rajendar too
is doing music for 1 more film: "Bannaari Amman" (*ing vijaya shanthi).
This is his first fully devotional film (only music). He is onto try
out digital udukkai's and thaarai thappattai's!

Kaasi (*ing Vikram,Kavya Madhavan. Dir: Vinayan) is the remake of Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Gyanum, a malayalam hit *ing kalabavan mani. The following are
the songs from the film, all of which have been sung by Hariharan:

Ehsaan writes "You have to understand that alavandhan doesnt really adhere to the typical tamil or hindi film soundtrack with 3 love songs and a few item songs. For that reason the film is not your typical film either. It is an intense action film even fitting in these songs has been difficult as the film can even do without songs.
. I gues this doenst fit into the cliched film soundtrack as the film is not your regular kind of film with all the singing dancing etc.
It's more cinematic music with tunes like ...." More. Post comments for him.

Sandeep Chowta to make tamil debut (1 Sep, 2001)

Sandeep chowta is the successful MD of 'Kaun', 'Mast','Jungle' and
'Pyar Tune Kya kiya'. Originally from Mumbai, he (ironically) got his break
in Telugu with 'Ninne pelladatha'. (It was dubbed in tamil as 'Unnaye
kalyaanam Pannikkiren'. Recall the 'greakka veerano' song?) He is now
making his official debut in Tamil with 'One two Three'. The film
will star the dance family 1) Prabhu Deva 2) Raju Sundaram and 3) Ragavendra
Prasad. Jyothika will play the female lead. The film is directed by Subhash.

Buzz on AR Rahman's new offerings (31 Aug, 2001)

Paarthale Paravasam (*ing Madhavan,Simran,Sneha. dir: KB) songs are
being shot in Malaysia. Apparently the shooting has been done in some
rare places in Malaysia never ever been seen celluloid before. One
song 'nee thaan en desiya geetham, ranjana'(Balaraman,Chitra) has been shot on Madhavan & Sneha.
Lyrics by Vaali. Incidentally, Vaali is also doing a cameo in this film (apart
from Kamal). You may recall that Vaali was introduced to films by KB in 'Poikkaal kuthirai'.

Kaathal Virus (*ing Richard,Sridevi - both new faces. Dir: Kathir) music
is also in the making process. ``Only the songs remain to be shot. Rahman has
given amazing music for the film,'' kathir says.

Singer Kay Kay (29 Aug, 2001)

Kay Kay (pronounced KK), or Krishna Kumar Menon, is a
promising singer with a ganeer voice. He is in the limelight with his
two songs in 12B ('love pannu' and 'mutham mutham'). Actually he is
not really a newcomer to TFM. He has sung a few songs already under Ranjit
Barot ('eechan kaattula' - VIP), AR Rahman ('strawberry kanne' - Minsara kanavu), Vidyasagar ('poovukkellaam siragu mulaithathu' - uyirodu uyiraaga),
Aagosh ('naan keezhnaattu' - koteeswaran). He has also done a pop album 'Pal'
and sung for several jingles ('yeh dil maange more' is his voice).

Alli Arjuna (MD: AR Rahman) Music Buzz (28 Aug, 2001)

Alli Arjuna (*ing Manoj, Richa Pallod. Dir: Charan) songs are in the
making. Two songs 'sollaathe solaikkili' (SPB,Swarnalatha)
'endhan nenjil paahimaam' (Srinivas,SJ), are being shot in Malaysia.
Hang on ARR fans, the album should be coming out soon!

12B - Music Reviews (28 Aug, 2001)

Some initial comments from fellow surfers:

"on first hearing nothing impressed me..... i doubt if its going to be impressing even after multiple hearings..... he has followed his *gurunadhar* style - some new voices, and you cannot understand most of the lyrics"
"12B is a superb album from HJ once again.
I don't care about the lyrics.The music was
nice that's all."
"Sukhwinder's Jothi nEril Vara song is such an ear-sore"
"sukwinder singh shd be renamed sukwinder should not singh!"
"harish raghavedras lovely voice has been wasted with just two lines in poovae vaai paesum other songs resembles rehamns stuff "
"I listened to 12B once. Should say good. Better that all Deva, VS and SAR stuff. But, again a replica of ARR kind of music. "

'Indian Movie News' is a popular magazine published from singapore. This year
the magazine is celebrating it's golden jubilee. There was a special awards
function last sunday with stars like Madhavan, Jyothika, Mumtaj, etc participating. The
music awards went to Srinivas (best singer -male), Sujatha (best singer - female), Vani Jeyaram (Lifetime achievement award).

AR Rahman in Michael Jackson's 'Invincible' (25 Aug, 2001)

'Invincible' is Michael Jackson's new solo album in six years.
It is executive produced by Michael Jackson, and features contributions from some of today's most successful artists including Carlos Santana, R. Kelly, Will Smith, etc. And, AR Rahman is one of them!
Album DEtails.
Looks like the composition 'Ekam satyam' that Jackson danced to during
the Munich concert will be AR Rahman's contribution.
Post comments here

Aalavandhaan - Music Release (17 Aug, 2001)

The music release of the much-awaited thriller 'Aalavandhan' (*ing kamal,raveena tandon,manisha koirala. Dir: Suresh Krishna) is
slated for Aug 18. The album will be released by KB and received by Mani ratnam.
The buzz about the album is: there are 6 songs.

Source: Dinakaran
There's a lot of expectation from the MD's Shankar-Ehsan-Loy who have raised
a lot of eyebrows in Bollywood. Shankar (mahadevan) has also been in the
news with his national award for 'santhana thendralai'.
Post comments here.

On 'The Real Salute' (16 Aug, 2001)

'The Real Salute' is a patriotic song composed as someone asking forgiveness
from the mother for neglecting her. The tamil version has been written and sung by Ilayaraja. Read more.

'Sangeetha Mala' - A CD-ROM on Papanasam Sivan (15 Aug, 2001)

Papanasam Sivan is a legendary composer,lyricist of very early TFM scene.
Some of his well-known songs include 'giridhara gopala' (MSS in
'Meera'), Manamohananga (GNB & MSS duet[!] in 'Sakundhalai'),
krishna mugunda (MKT in 'Haridas') and, of course, the 'manamadha
leelayai vendaar undo'. Ashok Ramani, the carnatic singer grandson of
Sivan, has conceptualised and published a CD-ROM tracing the life
and works of Sivan in a wonderful audio-visual format. Check out the
official website for more
. Here's a review by The Hindu.

On SUN TV: catch special 'puthuppaadal', 'Idhathil Endrum' (dance show of
yesteryear songs by four Kollywood [ex]queens), 'The real salute' (interviews
with Ilayaraja and others), etc.

News Bits (13 Aug, 2001)

Viswanathan-Ramamuthy is sure a catchy phrase. It was first used to
name the Prashanth twins in Jeans. Now there's a new movie released with
the title Viswanathan-Ramamurthy *ing Ramki,Roja,vivek (as Thirupathy Aezhumalayaan :-). With that as an excuse, a good dosage of MSV-TKR
song bits have also been 'reused' in the film.

Hariharan is currently doing a Hindi album (apart from his filmy
singing and acting business). He is next going to work on his first
Tamil album with Vidyasagar. Let's wait and see if they can churn out
an album of 'Colonial Cousins' standard for tamil.

'Tippu' Ekaambaresh confirms love story (12 Aug, 2001)

It's a love of like-minded musical souls, a la Justin Timberlake - Britney Spears. Tippu and Harini met first at a pop album recording but it was just a
friendly meeting then. But when they went for shows in Australia, they
seem to have got together closer and found they share a lot. And, love blossomed. Then, iruvarum 'manam virumbuthe unnai' solla, 'venmathi venmathiye'-nu sad
songs paada chance ilaamal, everything went smooth. They got engaged recently and marriage will be early next year.
Post your wishes here.

Samudram: Sabesh-Murali's debut as MD's (11 Aug, 2001)

Deva's brothers 'Gaanaa kalaadharaa' Sabesh and Murali (the first two from
the left in the pic) have made their
debut as MD's in the upcoming movie 'Samudhram' (*ing Sarathkumar,Murali,
Manoj,Abhirami. Dir: KS Ravikumar). Till recently they have been assisting
Deva in the MD business (You couldn't have missed 'Isai Udhavi - Sabesh-Murali'
in the titles, if you have seen any deva movie). The BGM for 'en swaasa
kaatre' was also done by them, when AR Rahman's couldn't do it. They are supposed to have
made their debut in '1000 poi solli' directed by Subaash, but somehow
Samudhram's music got released first. Listen to the album and post comments here.

News Bits (10 Aug, 2001)

It's long since T. Rajendar did music for films not directed by him.
The last he did that was during early 80's ('koolikkaaran','pookkalai
parikkaatheergal'). The ex-MLA has agreed to do that (music & lyrics)
now for a yet-to-be-named film *ing Karthik,Murali and directed by K.R.

Director Cheran, who is known for taking films dealing with social
themes ('Bharathy Kannamma','Porkkaalam'), is now trying his hands on
song lyrics. His first song 'kaagitha nilathil' will feature in his
upcoming movie 'Paandavar Boomi' (MD: Bharadhwaj).

Ilayaraja's 'Kutti' (9 Aug, 2001)

Kutti (*ing Baby swetha, Nasser,Kousalya. Dir: Janaki Viswanathan) is a docu
drama feature film on domestic child labour, produced in collaboration Danish
Embassy. A special screening of the film to selected audience has come out
with pretty good response. The news is two songs stand out in the film: 'chinna maharani' (by Mu. Mehta) and 'thangachi thangachi enge pore' (a touching
song that comes when the film ends. Written by Ilayaraja himself.). Post comments here.

12B - Harris Jeyaraj's next release (8 Aug, 2001)

'12B' (*ing Shaam,Jyothika,Simran. MD: Harris Jeyaraj, Dir: Jeeva) music
is in the making. Three songs, 'engeyo pogira megam', 'poove vaai pesum
pothu' and one more Jyothika number have been shot already. In case you
are too anxious to listen to the soundtrack, well here is a teaser.
Theme music. (thanks to official site.)
Post comments here

Well, we are actually referring to the remake of 'Mudhalvan' in hindi :-)
So anything new in 'Nayak' (*ing Anil Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee) music? As expected, ARR uses all the tamil versions of the songs but for two. 'Mudhalvane..vane..vane' has been replaced with 'Saiyaan' (thank god, otherwise it would've been 'naayak.. yak .. yak'). One version of 'Kurukku chiruthavale' paves way for 'tu acha lagta hai'. Both are altogether new tunes.

'Minnale' after-effects (6 Aug, 2001)

'Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein' - is the title of the hindi remake of the
hugely successful Minnale. It stars Madhavan (hindi debut), Diya Mirza (reigningMiss Asia-Pacific), Saif Ali Khan beng directed by Gowtham (who also
directed 'Minnale'). The movie also marks the hindi debut of Harris Jeyaraj.
Apparently 'vaseegara' song will make it to the hindi movie as well and it
will be sung by Bombay Jayshree herself (to the lyrics of Sameer).
Wondering about Gowtham's next tamil movie? Yes, it's already in the
thought process. It's been titled 'Iru vizhi Unadhu' (yes, inpired by
the Minnale song) and all songs are going to be penned by Thamarai. No
prizes for guessing the MD :-)

Poovellam Un Vaasam (5 Aug, 2001)

A much-hyped film from Oscar Films, *ing the successul pair Ajith, Jyothika and directed by Ezhil (of "thullatha manamum thullum" fame). Apart from the well-known
item number by Yukta Mukhi, this film also has Yugendran (son of Malaysia
Vasudevan and singer of the hit 'paarthen paarthen') playing a villainous
role. Yugendran has already played one such role in the tv serial 'Savitri'.
The music album (MD: Vidyasagar) has 6 songs - 'chella nam vettukku' (MV,Sujatha), kaadhal vanthathum (KJY,Sadhana Sargam), puthu malarai (Sriram parthasarathy), thaalaattum kaatre (SM), thirumana malargal (SL), Yukta Mukhi(Clinton,Devan).
The album is apparently selling like hot cakes in TN. Post your comments on this album.

Hariharan ventures into acting. He will play hero in a movie titled
Power of Women (*ing kushboo. Dir: Jeyadevi). We'll have to wait and see
whether he's going to gyrate with Kushboo in a dream sequence shot in Switzerland!

Days of singing love songs only for films seems to have been over for
singers Harini ('nilaa kaigirathu', 'manam viumbuthe unnai', 'telephone mani pol' and a lot more) and Tipu ('oh maama' from minnale, 'merkke vidhaitha sooriyane' from citizen). They have apparently fallen in love for real and going to get married soon.
Post your wishes here.
Source: Ambalam.Com (UnConfirmed News)

The music and movie trailers of 'Mitr - My Friend' are out at the
official website mitr-myfriend.com. Read about how Bavatharini became the MD of this movie.
Her composition 'suyasarithaigal ezhuthum megame' has been sung by Vasundara Das
to the lyrics of Thamarai (lyricist of 'vaseegara').
Song Sample

Ilayaraja in a unusual setting - with Anu Malik, Lata Mangeshkar in a hindi film!

Ilayaraja is scoring the BGM for the bigstarcast hindi movie 'Lajja' directed
by Rajkumar Santoshi. The MD is Anu Malik. However, a rather unusual
situation has demanded IR's involvement in the MD business as well.
Read more about it.

New Players in the Game

Ranjith Barot, so far an one tamil movie wonder of 'VIP' fame, is
to score for a tamil film again. The movie 'Achcham thavir' is
supposedly a thriller *ing Madhavan and Jyothika and will be directed
by yet-another Mani Ratnam assistant, Sivakumar. Is it going to be
long shot for this primarily jingles composer? Or a good break?
Voice your opinion.

Mani Sharma, the top draw in Telugu Film Music, has made his debut
in TFM. The movie Narasimha (*ing Vijaykanth,Isha Gopikar) is slated
for a release soon. The songs are already out, though only to a
lukewarm response so far. Can he make it big in TFM
and give fresh tunes amidst the ARR 'clout' ? Post your comments.

Harris Jeyaraj's New Release - Majnu

It's long since any MD's release, other than AR Rahman's, was looked
for so anxiously in the recent past. Harris Jeyaraj's is sure one now, after
the stupendous success of Minnale. Everyone was waiting for his 2nd movie
and it has come out on friday - Majnu (*ing Prasanth, Rinke Khanna. Dir: Ravichandran (of 'kannethire thondrinaal' fame)! It was released by ex-Miss Universe
Lara Dutta in a function held at Taj Coromandel, Madras. The album has
6 songs:

Mudharkkanave - Bombay Jayashree, Harish ragavendra, OS Arun

Gulmohar malare - Hariharan,Anupama

Padapada pattampoochi - Shankar Mahadevan, Kavitha Subramaniam

Harigori bonsayi - Anuradha sriram,Febi mani & Chorus

Pinju thendrale - MG Srikumar,Sandya

Mercury mele - Devan,Unnikrishnan

Will Harris Jeyaraj come out winner this time too or just become a one movie
wonder? Join the discussion

News Bits

Kamal writes and sings his first gaanaa under Deva. The Song
goes like "kandhasamy maadasamy kuppusamy ramasamy kalyaanam kattikinaango,
gaajiyellaam onjipoi kanmuyichu paakkasollo thappunu othukinaango.."!
If you can decode it, you might get a hint of the story...

Review of the light music programme by
Comaganin Ragapriya, featuring special appearances by Nithyasree,Devan and
Harini.

Sachin Tendulkar has apparently agreed to sing the title song
for the movie "I love you-da" (*ing Raju sundaram,simran). In case
you didn't know, this movie is a love story of a cricketer.

K. V. Mahadevan, a doyen of South Indian Film Music passed away at Chennai this
Thursday, 21-6-2001. He was 83. TFMPage pays tribute.

SPB "paadaatha" paadalgal

Listen to SPB sing some of the goldies originally not sung by him. The
songs include "poonkaatru thirumbumaa","nilave ennidam nerungaathe","oru
naal pothumaa","ennai thaalaatta varuvaalaa",etc. (Post comments here.)

News bits

Deva to score for a hindi movie (*s Hrithik Roshan. Dir: Rajkumar
Santoshi.). Look for Hrithik dancing to a 'gana' number by Sabesh :-).
(Deva has already done the BGM for "Chachi 420", the hindi
verson of Avvai Shanmugi. But the songs were done by Vishal.)

Vijaykanth sings in his new movie "Narasimha". Anyone eagerly expecting to listen to this song?:)

ARR has said he will offer a mix of Indian folk and Irish folk in
his upcoming offering 'Aelelo' to be directed by Parthiban. The title of
this movie is apparently inspired by ARR's humming in his first superhit
'chinna chinna aasai'.

Sabesh-Murali to debut as MD's in '1000 poi solli' to be directed by
Subhash. The duo have also been signed for 'Samudram'.

Tamil New Year Releases

Badri (*s vijay,bhoomika. MD: Ramana Gokula)

Dum Dum Dum (*s Madhavan,Jyothika. MD: Karthik Raja)

Little John (*s Bentley Mitchum, Jyothika. MD: Praveen Mani)

Sri Raja Rajeswari (*s Ramki,Banupriya. MD: Deva)

Kunguma Pottu Gownder (*s Satyaraj,rambha. MD: Sirpy)

"Netru Indru Naalai"

Review of the show (in aid of The Banyan) featuring AR Rahman, S Janaki
and several tamil film artists including Madhavan, Jyothika.

Vivek made his singing debut in "Kanden Seethayai"(*ing vikram,sowndarya)
and sung "vingyanathai nambi". Now he is writing lyrics too for the film "Super Kudumbam" (*ing Prabhu, MD: Adhityan). The song goes like
"millennium figure-gale nillunga". Need we say who will be singing this
song. Vivek kaattil ippo adai mazhai!

TS Bhagavathy passes away

T.S. Bhagavathy - the singer who cut a name for
herself in singing sad songs-mainly in Sudharsanam music (e.g. 'poomaalai neeye' in Parasakthi) has passed away. Discuss about her contributions to TFM and related interesting info.

Paa. Vijay's century

Paa. Vijay, the lyricist of the hugely popular hit 'karuppu thaan
enakku pudicha coloru' (vetri kodi kattu), has grown so fast that
he has penned his 100th film song for the film 'Narasimha'. (A
lesser known fact: this young lyricist was introduced by Bagyaraj
in 'Gyanapazham'.)

Life after Napster

Ignore what the courts ultimately rule about Napster: free file-sharing
is here to stay. The music industry can unleash all the lawyers in the
world, but it still can't stop it. Here are some alternatives to
check out.

Dinakaran Awards

Best MD: SA Rajkumar

Best Singer (Male): Hariharan

Best Singer (Female): Anuradha Sriram

Best Lyricist: Vairamuthu

*LOL*
"Aathaadi Aatha" is a new album in which Mansoor Alikhan is
going sing all the songs. This album is apparently going
to span oyilaattam, karagattam, therukkummi up to rap songs.
To add to all this, he is going write all the songs and
compose also!

News bits

Actress Revathy's all-ladies film "My Friend" will be scored
by Bavatharini, lyrics by Thamarai and songs sung by Bombay Jayasri and
Vasundhara Das.

"Music must come from heart, not from keyboard": Harris Jeyaraj
An interview with the upcoming music sensation. (in tamil, no fonts needed)

Tamilnadu state awards for 1999(!)

Best Actor: Rajni

Best Actress: Simran

Best MD: AR Rahman

Best Singer (male): Srinivas

Best Singer (female): S. Janaki

Best Lyricist: Vairamuthu

Kavignar Kannadhasan Prize: Kaamakotiyaan

Yugendran marries ex-DJ Hemamalini

Malasia Vasudevan's son Yugendran (who has sung several hits
including 'paarthen paarthen',
'oh maria', 'pollaachi santhayile', 'chinna kaanankuruvi',etc.)
has tied the nuptial knot to
Hemamalini, who is an ex-DJ and celebrity in singapore.

Bharathiyar Award for 2000 to Vaali

Vaali will be the recipient of Tamilnadu govt's bharathiyar award
for this year.

AR Rahman on Bombay Dreams

From Anandha vikatan.

Interview with Karthik Raja

From Thina Thanthi.

TMS to be awarded

Madurai Kamaraj University to confer TMS with "Thamizhch chemmal"
award.

DeepavaLi releases:

Thenaali among the new releases!

Thenaali (*s kamal,jyothika,jeyaram,devyani. MD: AR Rahman)

Priyamaanavale (*s vijay,simran. MD: SA Rajkumar)

Seenu (*s Karthik,Malavika,P.vasu. MD: Deva)

Vaanavil (*s Arjun,Abirami,Prakash raj. MD: Deva)

Snegithiye (*s jyothika,tabu. MD: Vidyasagar)

Paalayathu amman(*s Meena,ramki,divya unni. MD: SA Rajkumar)

Kannuku kannaaga (*s Murali,Devyani. MD: Deva)

Vanna thazmih paattu (*s prabhu,vaijeyanthi. MD: SA Rajkumar)

Aalavanthaan: Music Buzz

Aalavanthaan (*ing kamal in dual role,raveena tandon. dir: suresh krishna)
is an upcoming thriller based on kamal's own novel. Shankar Mahadevan
is the MD.

The latest buzz is, Mani ratnam has signed Karthik Raja for his next production and revives
his connections with the Raja family. Apart from this movie, Karthik
Raja is also doing Vaanjinathan (*ing Vijaykanth).

Ilayaraja to join hands again with Bharathiraja

According to the latest buzz, the old friends are going to work together
again in the movie 'Maanasthan' (Hmm..) starring Rajkiran.

Mani Ratnam's next production will have Dhina as MD

Mani ratnam's next movie production 'Dum Dum Dum' (Madhavan. Dir: azhagam Perumal) will have Dhina as MD.
Dhina is a very popular MD in tv serials,e.g. "Sondham","Chinna paappa
periya paappaa","Sundari Soundari". He made his movie debut in 'Annai'
which went unnoticed. It's a wait and see whether he'll make it big.

Thenaali: Music Buzz

The songs are being penned by Ilaya kamban, Kalaikumar, Arivumathi and
pirai sudan. NO songs by Vaira muthu.

Kamal has sung a song. Two other songs are also done. The crew
is waiting to for ARR (who is busy with London project and other
concert programmes) to compose two more songs.

Ila Arun gets 'Fresh' with Karthik raja
Ila Arun, the singer whose Choli ke peeche became the subject of a court case, has just come out with a "pop-folk" album with music by Kartik Raja. It's called Fresh.

'The youngsters will perform if given a chance' - Pazhani Bharathi - an interview with the lyricist in ArAmthiNai.

'Rahman will bring a different flavour to a musical production in the West'
- Webber More on "Bombay Dreams".

Buzz about Kamal's "Hey Raam" music

Ilayaraja replaces L.Subramaniam as the MD for Hey Raam. Read about
the behind-the-scenes story.

Re-recording is being done in Bovarian Studios (Eastern Europe).

KJ Yesudas' New Album Ahimsa

K.J. Yesudas will be releasing his latest album AHIMSA, in which he sings in English, Sanskrit and Latin. This is a major project involving world-class musicians all over the world. He has been invited to sing the title track from this album at the UNESCO millennium concert in Paris, where he will be accompanied by the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra and the Pakistani group JUNOON.

AR Rahman impresses Lord Webber

Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber (the world renowned composer responsible for the tremendous musicals `Phantom of the Opera', `Ms. Saigon', Starlight Express', `Evita' and `Cats' among other internationally known plays); himself knighted `Lord'; was so taken by the music of `Taal' that he called up AR at once to congratulate him. And that wasn't all. In tandem with Rahman, Lord Webber has at once begun work on a musical project called `Bombay Dream', which will be heavily inspired by Indian music.